1410 vs WKOX 1430 AM HD intereference

[John Mullaney]

Again you guys are old school AM listeners and those days are gone. Skywave is a waste of money and time. Today these stations only matter in the local markets they serve regularly. The fact you can occasionally get them a few state away is nostalgic but it matters  only to a few of you. It makes them no additional revenue for them as stations advertising is not sold that way today. AM stations are in big trouble. Many make fractions of the income they used to make and their value is at an all time low. The only hope is to make them sound as close to FM in their market areas as possible. I agree HD radio may not be best digital technology for AM but right now it is the easiest way an owner can make his AM sound much better on many car radios. And more and more cars are getting them. Down the road I think an all digital new format would be better but not with any concerns for sky wave. It ought be looked at as a way to just make this band more profitable again offer better fidelity, less prone to interference and offer some other digital delivery income from traffic and other devices. 

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> On Jun 20, 2015, at 2:40 PM, M.Casey <map@mapinternet.com> wrote:
> 
> I think that both of you are correct.
> 
> AM HD, as it is presently implemented, does not really work. Yes, in a maximum skywave area for WBZ (about 300+ miles west) last fall, traveling south from Rochester, NY to Harrisburg, PA, at night, the WBZ AM HD signal came in many times and held, but only to a maximum of less than 2 minutes. And, on that trip, most of the time HD would not decode while WBZ's skywave analog signal was very listenable. Farther out, in an area of eastern NC that I regularly travel to, WBZ, about 600 miles northeast, is often the strongest station on the dial at night, but HD decoding is rare.
> 
> I've heard the same about DRM, at least in some ways, being a better system, but that means that similtaneous analog is not possible--not a practical solution.
> 
> And it makes sense that a full power all-digital signal like what was used in the WBT test would work via skywave, but again the same problem as DRM--analog FM would not be possible.
> 
> Ironically, even though TV are much more expensive, I believe, It would be much harder on radio listeners to convert to all digital than it was for TV users. Radio is with us everywhere--cars, jobsite, beach, work, bedroom, bathroom, garage, walking & jogging--not so for TV.
> 
> The proposal for the changeover of TV CH 5&6 that was floated in 2008 has some good points. A scheme similar to the implementation of 1600-1700 band might work. An AM station gets a (Hybrid) IBOC FM HD channel in the 76-88 MHz segment. The AM and FM both operate for a year. Then the applicant chooses one or the other. Eventually number of stations on the AM band declines and there could be some "refarming" of the AM band to lessen interference. Then, maybe some of the remaining regional and local AM stations could move to allow for a few new higher power (more than 50kw) AM stations to serve wide areas, rural areas, and help satisfy emergency broadcast needs.
> 
> It would be much easier on the listening public to add 76-88 MHz to new radios and use the current Hybrid IBOC HD system than to turn off analog which would require everyone to buy new all-digital radios.
> 
> These ideas have been around for more than 10 years. This could have been mostly completed by now. AM will still be around in 10, probably even 20 or 30 years. Why not start with this 76-88 MHz idea now. Yes, some TV stations (just about all of those are very low power) would have to be refarmed right away.
> 
> Here's an aside-- While eliminating Ch 5 & 6 TV in favor of FM Broadcast, Allow much higher power digital TV stations on channels 2, 3, 4, and 7-13 in order to restore TV service to the many folks in rural and mountainous areas like in central & northern New England that have LOST all, or nearly all TV reception since digital TV was implemented. Stations on channel 2, 3, or 4 with decent power on big hills like Mt Mansfield, Washington, Ascutney, Greylock, or even Wachusett would help that situation. The TV stations located at Mt. Wilson in the Los Angeles, CA market that stayed on VHF have been permitted up to 4x the maximum power originally allowed for digital TV by the FCC.
> 
> Mark Casey
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Scott Fybush
> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 10:35 PM
> To: boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org
> Subject: Re: 1410 vs WKOX 1430 AM HD intereference
> 
>> On 6/19/2015 10:20 PM, Rob Landry wrote:
>> 
>> If they do that, it should be DRM not HD Radio. DRM will work on
>> skywaves; HD will not. Reports I've heard suggest DRM is just a better
>> engineered system.
> 
> I've got over an hour of crystal-clear recorded audio from here in
> Rochester during the WBT Charlotte all-digital testing that says
> all-digital HD works via skywave.
> 
> s
> 
> 
> 
> 
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